They warn that the California variant of COVID-19 is more contagious than the others

Emerging mutations of SARS-CoV-2 began to appear as part of the natural process of virus evolution. Questions about whether they would be more deadly or more contagious are answered directly, and the main question now is whether they can challenge the developed vaccines, endangering the immunization of populations and delaying the end of the pandemic.

As two new studies have shown, everything indicates that the variant of the coronavirus detected in California in December is more contagious than previous forms of the virus.

One study found that the variant was spreading rapidly in a San Francisco neighborhood in recent months, while the other confirmed it was statewide and revealed that it produces twice as many viral particles in a person’s body ., According to The New York Times.

That study also suggests that this variant can better bypass the immune system’s defenses and vaccines.

While none of these studies have been published in a scientific journal to date, experts don’t know how much of a threat to public health this variant poses, compared to others that are also spreading in California.

“I am increasingly convinced that it is more locally transmitted than the others,” said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health. But there are no indications that it is in the same class as B.1.1.7 ”.

The variant known as B.1.1.7 came to the United States from the United Kingdom, where it quickly became the dominant form of the virus and overwhelmed hospitals. British medical records studies suggest that B.1.1.7 is not only more transferable, but also more deadly than previous variants.

Some experts said the new variant discovered in California is of concern, but it is unlikely to cause as much of a burden as B.1.1.7 in the UK country.

Charles Chiu is a virologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and he first came across the new variant by accident, while with other researchers worried about the discovery of B.1.1.7 in the UK. It was on New Year’s Eve that he was surprised to discover a previously unknown variant that made up a quarter of the samples he and his colleagues had collected.

There, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles also discovered a large increase of the same variant in Southern California.

The variant was christened B.1.427 / B.1.429 and since then researchers have discovered it in 45 states and in other countries such as Australia, Denmark, Mexico and Taiwan.

Now, in a new study soon to be published online, Chiu and his colleagues analyzed 2,172 virus samples collected from the state between September and January. In early September, researchers found no signs of B.1.427 / B.1.429. But it had become the dominant variety in California by the end of January.

The UK and California variants each feature improved capabilities, and the likelihood of circulating in the same population raises concerns that infections and deaths will rise againChiu warned. It also opens the door to a “nightmare scenario” where the two viruses meet in the same person, exchange their mutations and create an even more dangerous strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

New evidence that the California variety can make people sicker, and vaccines less effective, should spur more effort to reduce infectionsChiu said. These should include both public health measures, such as masking and limiting public activities, such as a rapid vaccination campaign, he added.

The B.1.427 / B.1.429 genome contains three mutations that affect the crucial spike protein, which the virus uses to sneak into human cells and turn them into factories for its own production. One of these three mutations, called L452R, affects what is called the receptor binding domain, which allows the virus to attach more tightly to the target cells.

The study also showed that the new variant may be more effective at evading the immune system. In the laboratory, antibodies from people who recovered from infections with other variants turned out to be less effective at blocking the new variant. The same thing happened when the researchers used blood serum from people who had been vaccinated.

However, the effect of the variant on immunity appears to be much less than that caused by a variant from South Africa called B.1.351.

In the lab, the California strain was also found to be more resistant to neutralizing antibodies generated in response to COVID-19 vaccines, as well as a previous coronavirus infection.

Compared to existing variants, the reduction in protection was “moderate … but significant,” the researchers said.

Chiu and his colleagues were able to estimate when B.1.427 / B.1.429 originated by comparing the mutations that have evolved since the viruses separated from their common ancestor. That analysis showed it was late spring. If true, it means that the variant in California may have been lurking at extremely low levels for up to four months or more.

Now California is becoming a kind of viral cage that the two variants face. “I suspect B.1.1.7 will win,” said Hanage.

However, Chiu believes it is possible that B.1.427 / B.1.429 will curtail the newcomer and continue to dominate the state.

U.S. scientists could gain more capacity to identify potentially deadlier coronavirus mutations under a bill introduced by Congress that could raise $ 1.75 billion for genomic sequencing.

For now, the United States is only mapping the genetic makeup of a small fraction of positive samples for the virus, but some experts say this is the same as flying blind. It means that the actual spread in the country of problematic mutations first identified in the UK and South Africa remains a matter of guesswork.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is trying to guide these efforts, in line with the government’s own advanced screening work, but the COVID-19 legislative initiative would take the search to another level.

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